| Native Name Lang: | ja |
| Status: | Operational |
| Locale: | Kumamoto Prefecture |
| Open: | 15 August 1909 |
| Owner: | Kumamoto Electric Railway |
| Linelength: | 13.1km (08.1miles) |
| Electrification: | 600 V DC overhead catenary |
| Speed: | 50round=5NaNround=5 |
| Map State: | collapsed |
The is a public transport company in Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan. It is abbreviated as or . The company was founded in 1909. The company operates railway and bus lines.
For the tram (streetcar) system in Kumamoto, see Kumamoto City Transportation Bureau.
A short section of the Fujisaki Line shares its track with public road, like a tram line.
As is the case with many Japanese rail and tram companies, the actual routes operated differ from the officially designated lines[1]
Trains operate on two routes:
Services from all 3 termini (Kami-Kumamoto, Miyoshi and Fujisakigū-mae) meet at Kita-Kumamoto at the same times allowing seamless transfer between services. Routes operate every 30 minutes, but during am & pm peak periods the "Main Line" (Miyoshi — Kita-Kumamoto — Fujisakigū-mae) route operates every 15 minutes.
At Kami-Kumamoto, passengers can transfer to JR Kyushu Kagoshima Line trains and Kumamoto City Transportation Bureau tram (streetcar) Route B.
All trains are 2-car sets acquired second-hand from other operators.
The forerunner of the company,, was established in on 15 August 1909, and opened the gauge steam-hauled line from (close to the present-day Kami-Kumamoto Station) to (present-day Fujisakigū-mae Station) on 1 October 1911.[6] On 27 August 1913, the line between Ikeda and (later named Kikuchi) was opened.[6]
From 31 August 1923, the line was converted to gauge and electrified at 600 V DC.[6]
The current section of the Kikuchi Line between Kita-Kumamoto and Kami-Kumamoto opened on 1 October 1950, resulting in two lines between those stations, the original via Fujisakigū-mae and the new line.[6] In June 1953 the original line from Kami-Kumamoto to Fujisakigū-mae closed.[6] The 13.5 km Miyoshi to Kikuchi section closed on 16 February 1986 due to falling patronage.[6]
This article incorporates material from the corresponding article in the Japanese Wikipedia.